The invention relates to the encoding and subsequent decoding of audio signals transmitted over a communications channel.
The combined bandwidth of audio and video signals to be transmitted in teleconferencing and videoconferencing applications often exceeds the bandwidth of the available communications channel. As a result, techniques have been developed to compress the audio and video signals so that they can be transmitted using less bandwidth without significant degradation in signal quality.
To allow comparison of different compression approaches, various standards organizations have developed guidelines for acceptable signal quality. One such standard is the international seven kilohertz audio standard, CCITT recommendation G.722, which provides quality guidelines for digital transmission of seven kilohertz audio signals at a transmission rate of 48,000 bits per second.